Monday, March 29, 2010

My grandma, Edna Mae, loved needlecrafts and taught me how to crochet and needlepoint. She had a big rubbermaid bin under her bed full of plastic canvas, yarn and floss, etc. Whenever I was visiting and feeling a little bored I would pull that bin out and stitch or crochet. It was so much fun and I believe fueled my love for needlework. When my grandma passed away in 1992 my dad inherited her large needlepoint picture. He then gave it to me. He knew I would appreciate it, and I do. It's very big, so it was hard to get a decent picture of it.

My grandma attached this paper about her needlepoint on the back. It came off, but I saved it.

Her needlepoint was based on a painting called "Grandmother's Bridal Crown" by Adolph Tidemand, which was painted in 1869. My grandma's information that the artist died in 1845 wasn't correct. Unfortunately, she didn't have access to the internet in 1979 when she stitched it to research it like I do now. :)

Here is a picture of my grandma and I on Mother's Day in 1975.

Maybe she was working on her needlepoint during this time? It's so big I'm sure it took her quite awhile to finish!

Monday, March 22, 2010

I caught a cold and I've been miserable. I'm finally getting over it, thankfully! That spring cleaning I was talking about doing... Yeah, it didn't happen (except for a few charts I sold - thank you to those who bought them)! I go down to Florida April 1st and I was hoping to get a lot done before then. Maybe I still can, if I can find the motivation!

Anyway, I did do a little bit of stitching on Paradise Lost...

I finished the angel, sun, and crown on the right side of the banner and started on the clouds above the banner.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

I didn't stitch much yesterday, instead I helped my dh put together a shadow box for his badges and a medal he got while he was working with Cobb County Police Department in Georgia. I think it turned out really nice. I laced some black velvet onto the padded backing that came with the shadow box for him.

The picture is not the greatest, but I think you get the idea. It was really hard to photograph!

Well, I'm going to be taking a little blogging break. I have to have some dental work done on Monday and then I plan to do some spring cleaning before we head down to Florida for spring break. There is a lot of clutter that I need to clear out! It's crazy how fast it accumulates! Write when I can!!! :)

Friday, March 12, 2010

I went up to Amy's bright and early this morning. Matthew took to Ray and Amy right away. He had so much fun with Ray. He showed him how to play one of his guitars (Jake was very jealous when I told him this). After a little jam session we went to eat a McCabe's. A very good BBQ restaurant in Manning. We came home and had a little cake (I brought a cake from Publix - they're sooo good). I was so stuffed from McCabe's though, so I couldn't eat very much. I'm wishing I had taken some home now, I have a feeling I'll be thinking of that cake later on tonight! :)

Of course I couldn't leave without the new (re-released) pattern from Samplers Remembered "Mary Allen 1818," and a couple other little goodies from Kelmscott.

When I came home there was an email saying that Jake's game was canceled tomorrow because the field conditions were bad. So I could have gone to Amy's tomorrow after all. Oh well, we still had fun today. :)

As promised here is my progress on SoHRH (Shores of Hawk Run Hollow). It's not a lot of progress - I hope to stitch more on it this weekend.

I thought I could resist Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow, but that picture Glenna took at In Stitches kept coming back to me and couldn't resist any longer. I'm not sure when I'll actually get around to stitching it - Maybe in the fall. I did work on Shores of Hawk Run today (I'll post a pic tomorrow). I'm really enjoying it. I thought I would mention that the dyeing of the Summer Khaki with Tan Rit Dye wasn't my idea. It was Tanya's from The Scarlett House. She dyed her fabric for her Harriet Burry Sampler the same way. It makes a great fabric color, so I want to thank Tanya and give her credit for such a great idea!

I also got a few of the new Shepherd's Bush kits (My Land, Lucky and Patriotic Scissor Fob). My favorite is "My Land." I love the fabric and threads. I really fell in love with it after seeing Coni's wip (scroll down). It's so pretty. I think it will make a great companion to my "Finch Song."

Shepherd's Bush Kit "My Land." Included in the kit are Various Silk threads and 30 ct. Parchment Linen by WDW.

Tomorrow, Matthew (my three year old) and I are going to head up to Amy's for lunch. I had originally planned to go on Saturday, but I found out that my son Jake, who is seven, is having his very first soccer game - ever. I couldn't miss it - he's so excited! I felt bad that I wasn't going to be able to make it to Amy's because 1. It's her birthday and 2. I promised her a cake! I told her I would make it up to her somehow and it worked out that we could meet up tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for my drive up!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I finished the banner today (except for the fill in). I also got the giraffe and the little animal (a fox?) finished. I had to frog a few times though. I don't know what's wrong with me lately! It seems I'm frogging all the time!

Well, my boys just got home from school (half day today) and they're hungry! Write soon!

After working on SoHRH a little bit I decided to get Paradise Lost back out. I really want to get it finished up, so I'm going to try to concentrate on it for awhile before getting back to my other bigger samplers.

40 ct. Vintage Light Examplar, NPI and Gloriana silks (1 over 2).

Thank you all for your kind comments on my Anniversaries of the Heart project. I will be getting back to it also. I would love to finish up the first two houses before 3rd comes out (possibly at the end of the month??). Write soon!

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Well, I decided to be bad and start the Anniversaries of the Heart project. And I guess I was being punished for being bad because I spent pretty much all day yesterday ripping what I had stitched the day before. I'm finally back on track today and this is how it's looking...

I decided to go with 40 ct. Meadow Rue instead of Pearled Barley. It just wasn't dark enough for the January pattern to show up. The Meadow Rue is also very close in color to the recommended linen - R&R Olde Town Blend (I found a piece in my stash and matched it up).

With Thy Needle and Thread "Mary's Best Handework" and Blackbird Designs "Honeysuckle Manor"

Here is just one of the many things I love from the Honeysuckle Manor book.

Well, I'd better get dinner started! Write soon! :)

Edited to add: Total stitch count of all the houses on one piece of fabric... 387 x 261. Each design is 75 x 85 with 3 stitches in between each design. Two bonus charts are going to be released in October.